Syrian exodus raises concern for refugees

Date: November 11 2012

Ruth Pollard

In the largest exodus of refugees for months, 11,000 Syrians fled their war-torn country in just 24 hours, as the humanitarian crisis caused by the 20-month long conflict worsened, the United Nations refugee agency reported.

There are now more than 408,000 Syrian refugees living in neighbouring countries, with at least 9000 crossing into Turkey and 1000 each into Lebanon and Jordan on Friday, the UN said.

With the bitterly cold winter months approaching, concern is mounting for the health and safety of the increasing number of refugees fleeing Syria, with many surviving in abandoned schools, shopfronts, crowded into private homes or in burgeoning UN-run camps.

Parents were already struggling to provide for their children and expressed real fears about how they would survive the winter, said Save the Children's Annie Bodmer-Roy, who has been working with refugee families in Lebanon.

Along with the need for safe housing, health care and food, education remained one of the most pressing issues - many children have already missed up to 18 months of school, Ms Bodmer-Roy said.

There are tens of thousands of Syrian children missing out on education in Lebanon alone, and the numbers are only going to grow as the situation inside Syria worsens, she said.

''Children's lives have been turned upside down … and education is really important to give them a sense of normalcy and something to look forward to, rather than staying in an unstable environment where they do not know what is going to happen from one day to the next.'' Meanwhile, the fractured Syrian opposition groups pressed ahead with their attempts to form a new coalition that would serve as an interim government when the regime of the President, Bashar al-Assad, eventually falls.

They are meeting in the Qatari capital Doha but after a week of talks they had yet to reach a resolution, sources at the meeting report.

It is hoped that the new coalition would mirror Libya's Transitional National Council - the group that united Libya's opposition against Muammar Gaddafi. It may also - many observers hope - help to quell the growing influence of Islamic militants in parts of the Free Syrian Army and provided a stable coalition for Western powers to support.

And while the US continued to both press the opposition to unite and reject calls for Western military intervention, it announced it would provide an extra $US34 million ($32.7 million) in humanitarian assistance to help those affected by the conflict in Syria. Its contribution to the Syrian crisis sits at more than $US165 million.

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees and its partner organisations are appealing for $US487 million in aid, warning the number of refugees fleeing Syria could surpass 700,000 by the end of the year.

Local activists say the conflict has claimed more than 30,000 lives, and the UN says 1.2 million people have been displaced from their homes.

To donate to aid agencies working with Syrian refugees:

Save the Children, 1800 760 011

UNHRC, donate.unhcr.org/syria

This material is subject to copyright and any unauthorised use, copying or mirroring is prohibited.